Body Odour

What causes body odour and how to prevent it

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Body odor (BO) can be defined as the unpleasant smell that is created every time you sweat. While it is embarrassing, you would be relieved knowing that body odor can be tackled with the help of few simple personal hygiene steps.

What causes body odor?

Irrespective of what people might think, body odor does not originate from sweat. The smell arises because of bacteria that break down the sweat into aromatic fatty acids, which gives birth to this unpleasant odor.

To help you achieve this, your body has more than 4 million sweat glands, which are classified into two types.

Eccrine glands

These glands are present all over your body. The sweat released from these glands are generally odorless, although it can give out a nasty smell if you have consuming certain things. Alcohol, spices, garlic and certain medications are the typical culprits.

Apocrine glands

These glands can be found in the hairy parts of the body, such as genital areas and armpits. They usually make their presence during puberty and release natural chemicals called pheromones. Sweat from apocrine gland is high in protein, making it a rich source of food for bacteria. So people with considerably high apocrine glands end up developing body odor quicker.

Being overweight or suffering from diabetes can worsen body odor. Most of the time, it is a simple case of too much bacteria on the skin.

How do I get rid of body odor?

The solution is very simple: Keep areas that are prone to sweating as clean as possible. Simply follow these below mentioned personal hygiene steps:

Cleanse with soap and warm water once a day, paying special attention to those hairy parts especially the armpits and groin as there are many sweat producing glands where bacteria grows quickly

Change your clothes regularly, rinse them regularly and replace them if required. Mixing Dettol Laundry Sanitizer to your wash can help in getting rid of 99.9% of bacteria even at low temperatures